Thursday, December 2, 2010

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Monday, November 29, 2010

Phuket is beautiful, but however close the sea may seem to it, it hasnt rained since I set my foot on the soil of Thailand. Its always been dry, as in dry fruits. I have been hopping from one bike to another, in my quest to travel the roads of this city as cheap as possible. As I move past the shops, occasionally a dimly lit, reddish coloured shop appears, and I steal a glance Pathetic place..

Phuket had suffered the most during 2004 when the Indian Ocean Tsunami hit this area. Reminds me the story of Prophet Noah, where the idol worshippers were punished by flood and terrible rains. Apparently, same punishment had been given to this part of the world. Maybe, idol worshippers are worshipped in this way, maybe other sins arent as great as idol worship..

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

I remember my evenings in Kashmir, around 7 pm, very clearly. It was the moment when time stopped in my house, the clocks bore an ugly sight. 7 pm, the time for the local news in Kashmir, full of boring, uninteresting stories. Everyday half an hour of my life, went into the pathetic blabbering of boring incidents around the valley. I dont blame them, children always have much more interesting stuff to do.

Evening news in Pattaya is interesting, in the fact that its spicy. Who stole what, who killed what, news about Russian tourists, girlfriends, scandals, drugs, and drunken old men. Interesting.

As I read on this T-Shirt somewhere:

"Good men go to Heaven, bad men come to Pattaya"

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Why would such a thing happen to me? I have been suffering from bad sleep ever since I came to Malaaysia, always tossing and turning in my sleep, then finally waking up exhausted and sleepy. Its a different stories on the weekends, where my sleeping hours go well past the 1 O Clocks and the 2 O Clocks.

Yesterday, I woke up really early, and then I was travelling the whole day, and had a really tiring day. I was expecting myself to wake up; obviously not before my cousin would come and throw water on me for lunch. Strangely, my eyes opened at 9.30 am, I looked around, my cousin was still asleep.

First thing I did after that, was write this blog post. Thankfully, there is internet here- Yes, my blood supply is here. Thus, as a traveller, hereby I declare that I can adjust in any type of conditions, except cold ofcourse, if there is a steady internet connection which I can use. And facebook shouldnt be blocked by the local jungle adminstration.

Sipping a cup of tea, I am looking forward for my day ahead. Maybe I will get to learn some Thai.

I am not really that comfortable here, maybe it will take me time to adjust. Last time, when me and my friend visited Singapore, we hadno such problem. Most probably because Singapore is similar to Malaysia in many regards, and we didnt face a culture shock, or any other shock for that matter. Singapore is safe, with perfectly robotic law abiding citizens, utopia in short.

Thailand on the other hand, is Kashmir after 60 years - some parts. Its such a strange blend of culture, and westernisation that I just cant makeup my mind. Right now, I am in Pattaya, which is like a popular tourist destination her. Its so flithy (in)famous that people from all over the world, come to enjoy the filth.

There was this particular guy sitting with me in a bus today, from Poland. He was bald, well-built and particularly reddish for my taste. After striking up a conversation, I recieved all sorts of crazy information, that I think mademe more wiser than I was this morning, running after a taxi.

This guy works in Petronas, in an offshore plant near Myanmmar. We talked about a lot of issues, ranging from weather to highly sensitive issues like religion. Mysteriously, he seemed well informed about quite a lot of things, particularly the history of India, Pakistan and the stuff going on in Kashmir. He even poked me when he saw a rare occurence of a magnificient mosque on the way, and then smiled.. I smiled back.

I keep my distance, being careful enough not to extend the conversation upto the point where volcanoes usually line up to burst the heat out. I had to try and talk to him, but within the comfort zones. It ended with a polite goodbye from my side and cheek-wide smile from him. Hoping to see him around (Not that I would recognise him but I just hope)

Coming back, Thai people are majority Buddhists, with a few Muslim minorities here and there. Budd hism is thus everywhere, part of the culture, cuisine and crowd. The rest of the troops conprise of red-skinned people, from countries such as Russia, Germany and even Israel. (Unlike Malaysians, Thai people dont have any troublewith the Israeli people). Thus, today as on 22nd November 2010, I record my first sight of an Israeli couple, scribbling away their immigration related papers.

Pattaya reminds me of Nasi Goreng Pattaya, a rice egg dish from Malaysia, prepared with fried rice and chicken , sandwitched in a huge layer of egg. If you are hungry, thats the way to go.

Thailand isnt the place where I would like to spend my life. One more reason is the food. Its expensive, (Oh Malaysia I miss your cheap food), and its not Halal. There is pork everywhere, and then there is wine at other places. The only places where I didnt find both was this KFC outlet where I ordered rice and mashed potatoes (Just to be on the safer side). I will try my best to avoid meat/chicken at any place, however brightly the term "Halal" is displayed outside.

Logging off now.

Cheers.

:) :)

Monday, November 22, 2010

Today was a rainy day, managed to wake myself up really early. Special occasion-yes it was, I had a flight to catch at around noon, and I didnt want to miss my flight. My friends have this unique history of travelling; all the misfortunes of the Greek and Australian mythologies had invoked a curse on their travel plans. I didnt want to join their 'famous' loser group, so I forced myself to set an alarm real early.

By 9.01 am, I was already at KL Sentral station, the hub of Kuala Lumpur transport. From there, as lonesome bus swallowed me and spewed me out an hour later at the 'Low-Cost-Carrier-Terminal'. Unlike the KLIA terminal, this terminal is entirely reserved for Air-Asia, the world renowned lowest fare air travel giant.

I checked in from a machine, and handed my bag to a suspicious looking Tamil lady, who no doubt is fed up of her job as a data entry clerk. With a monotonous job like that, I really pity her.

Finally after long hours of travelling, I am finally here.. THAILAND.. ;)

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Saturday, October 30, 2010

We all may be poor, but a significant few are not. This guy whom I claim to be a friend has this devilish collection of Iphones, Ipods and a new entry to his family, the IPAD!.. (Luckily he doesnt read my blog nor will he ever, so I can safely blog about it ;) )

PS: If you did read it, please dont be mad at me, atleast I didnt give your name away did I?? :P

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Isn´t that really disappointing? I have this final project presentation at 2 pm today, and my voice sounds all nasal, and crackles after every minute or so.. I will be presenting the discussion and conclusion.

Oh, our group doesn´t have any ppt slides this time. Yesterday we witnessed a big big printer vomitting out the poster for our project. First time I have witnessed such a big machine spewing out a green A1 sized paper. (Oh green not because its gross, but because that´s our poster theme colour :s)

Flu will eventually lead to a couple of days with cough, and then the finals begin.. Talk about bad timing :(

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

An IED was found on the road side near Police Control Room Srinagar this morning. The Bomb disposal Squad of the Police Control Room reached the spot immediately and defused the IED averting a major tragedy.

Monday, October 18, 2010

Dr. Manmohan Singh, the Prime Minister of India’s assertion that ""Kashmir is an integral part of India” needs to be supplemented by some observations from the viewpoint of the people of Kashmir. This deserves to be borne in mind by all those who wish the conflict to be justly resolved once and for all.

When the Kashmir dispute erupted in 1947-1948, the United States took the stand that the future status of Kashmir must be ascertained in accordance with the wishes and aspirations of the people of the territory. The U.N. Security Council adopted a resolution on 21 April 1948 which was based on that unchallenged principle. So the idea that ‘Kashmir is an integral part of India’ is in contravention to India’s international obligations. Any such suggestion is an insult to the intelligence of the people of Kashmir. The people revolted against the status quo and status quo cannot be an answer? Also, Kashmiris wish to emphasize that their land is not a real estate which can be parceled out between two disputants but the home of a nation with a history far more compact and coherent than India’s and far longer than Pakistan’s. No settlement of their status will hold unless it is explicitly based on the principles of self-determination and erases the so-called line of control, which is in reality the line of conflict.

Secondly, under all international agreements, agreed by both India and Pakistan, negotiated by the United Nations and endorsed by the Security Council, Kashmir does not belong to any member state of the United nations. So, if Kashmir does not belong to any member state of the United Nations, then the claim that ‘Kashmir is an integral part of India’ does not stand. And if ‘Kashmir is not an integral part of India’ then Kashmiris cannot be called separatist or secessionist. Because Kashmir cannot secede from a country – like India – to which it has never acceded to in the first place.

My opinion is confirmed by a poll conducted jointly by major news outlets on Aug 12, 2007: CNN-IBN and Hindustan Times in India and Dawn and News in Pakistan. A majority of those polled in Kashmir Valley (87% to be precise) preferred freedom (Azadi). The Azadi means the rejection of the idea that ‘Kashmir is an integral part of India.’.

However, there is but one fair, just, legal, and moral solution to Kashmir which was provided by the United Nations. The procedures contemplated at early stage of the dispute at the United Nations for its solution may be varied in the light of changed circumstances but its underlying principle must be scrupulously observed if justice and rationality are not be thrown overboard. The setting aside of the UN resolution is one thing; the discarding of the principle they embodies is altogether another. So the settlement has to be in accordance with the wishes of the people; impartially ascertained; in conditions of freedom from intimidation.

Kashmiris are open to a constitutional dispensation that answers all of India's legitimate national security and human rights concerns. With regard to the former, they are willing to explore permanent neutrality for Kashmir along the model of the 1955 Austrian State Treaty and a renunciation of war or the threat of force in international affairs along the model of Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution. They are willing to consider abandoning a military force like Costa Rica, Haiti, and Panama. Moreover, they hold no objection to providing community quotas in government offices along the lines of the 1960 Constitution for the Republic of Cyprus to safeguard against invidious discrimination of any religious or ethnic group, i.e., Pandit, Buddhist, Sikh, and Muslim alike.

With good faith by all parties common ground leading to a final settlement of the Kashmir tragedy can be discovered.

And an appointment of a special envoy by the United Nations or by President Obama, like Bishop Desmond Tutu will hasten the way of peace and prosperity in the region of South Asia.

Dr. Ghulam Nabi Fai is Executive Director of Kashmiri American Council. Dr. Fai can be reached at gnfai2003@yahoo.com

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

I do support and recommend people to use open source software, primarily because its free and wont raise the anger of the whole dancing dudes from Microsoft and so so..
I myself use OpenOffice for all my documentation needs. In one way its better, in the sense that it allows exporting as PDF, and thats what I always do..
Apparently, I registered for this new (awesome) software thingy, called as Digsby.

An all-in-one client, you can have multiple logins to all the accounts you have made since you were born and said the word "Goo Gleee"....
One thing I didnt like about it, is, that, unknowingly, it somehow managed to post its referral ad everywhere, to around 2000 genuine contacts in my address book, and well, the post below this one..
I admit, OSS does need a lot of publicity to survive in this cruel Microsoft and Adobe and world, but this is not good, its unethical...
Bad Bad Digsby..

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Digsby = IM + Email + Social Networks

Qazi Mamoon has invited you to try Digsby.

I'm using a new application called Digsby that helps you manage all your IM, email, and social network accounts from one place. Digsby is completely free and supports all the services you already use like Facebook, MSN Messenger, Yahoo Mail, and more...

Digsby helps you save time by managing all your online accounts from one place. Digsby merges all your IM accounts into one buddy list, provides email alerts with a snapshot view of your inbox that lets you perform actions such as "Mark as Read" or "Report Spam", and shows you a real time newsfeed of all the activity on your social networks.